The West Kootenays were the site of this year’s 2011 B.C. Seniors Games, where multiple athletes from the Williams Lake area took their talents from Aug. 16-21.
This year’s games, which played host to around 3,100 competitors aged 55 plus, featured 25 events at venues in three cities including Castlegar, Nelson and Trail.
Williams Lake and area athletes competed as part of the North Central Zone — one of 12 zones throughout the province for the Games.
From Williams Lake, track and field athletes were lighting up the track.
In the men’s 55 to 59 medley, Jim Johnston and Leo Ranking paired up with Prince George’s Tom Ukonmaanaho and Kelly Sharp to win the bronze. Rankin would be at it again in individual track and field competition, taking home a slough of medals.
Rankin, competing in the men’s 55-59 division, won gold in the 1,500-metre, silver in the 10-kilometre road race, gold in the 800-metre and gold in the 5,000-metre events.
His medley teammate Jim also marched home with multiple medals.
Jim, in the 65-69 category, won bronze in the 10-kilometre road race, silver in pentathlon, silver in long jump, silver in triple jump, bronze in javelin and silver in pole vault.
In the women’s 60 to 64 medley, Marlene Johnston joined Prince George’s Linda Meise, Chris MacDonald and Suzanne Sharp to also win bronze.
Marlene also won a bronze medal in the 1,500-metre event.
In hockey, Bruce Mack teamed up with a team from Prince George to win a bronze medal in the men’s 60-plus division. Meanwhile, Williams Lake’s David Corless played in the men’s 65-plus division, also winning a bronze medal on a team made up of players from around the province.
In golf, Floris Martineau won silver, while husband Doug Martineau brought home the bronze.
And in the men’s 55-59 compound archery event, Williams Lake’s Al Campsall won gold medals in both the 3D shooting and target shooting events.
With Williams Lake’s strong contribution to the overall medal haul, the North Central Zone finished the games in seventh spot, taking home 104 medals including 36 gold medals, 32 silver medals and 36 bronze medals.
Winning first place at the games was the Fraser Valley with 265 medals (124 gold, 89 silver and 52 bronze) followed by West Kootenay in second (106 gold, 65 silver, 69 bronze) and the Lower Mainland in third (133 gold, 61 silver and 44 bronze).